Cardio & Toning Question - Belly Fat

Jkn921

I'm really surprised your University doesn't have a gym! It's been awhile since I was at school but we had a full gym and you could sign up for recreational sports/weightlifting, even billiards or bowling.

It does but I don't want to go to it for personal reasons.

ninerbuff

Work your overall body and stay in consistent calorie deficit. Your body will dictate how body fat gets reduced and no manner of exercise can accelerate or change it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

GeminiBridget

I agree with the PP about spot reducing and the kitchen stuff.

Are you just starting out with exercising? It sounds like you have a great plan and starting out with 5 & 10 lbs sounds perfect. Does your gym have any circuit training classes? I would recommend doing one of those if you are new to working out - mine keeps me motivated and I've learned the right way to lift, and gotten a lot stronger in the past year. Plus you are forced to work on muscle groups that are not your favorite so you can't avoid them!

I've been doing it since last year so definitley not new - however I only have been doing cardio really (kickboxing mainly) which has helped me lose 20lbs. I don't have or go to a gym and I'm not planning to but I have a gym at home (I'm at Uni now) so when I go back in Summer, I'll probably start heavy lifting then. I'm not entirely sure what to focus on now - calorie deficit will be done but the exercises I'm a little confused about...

Well when I was just doing cardio 15 years ago and got down to this same weight I was bigger then I am now. So yes Cardio only will give you that skinny fat look.

You don't have to go to the gym to work the muscle. Bodyweight exercise, circuit training with weights, HIIT with bodyweight or some sort of resistence training will help (I started last year with circuit training and it helped) anything to help maintain your muscle (work up the dumbell weight) to ensure you are taxing the muscle is all good.

As I said my sister does JM extreme shred and ripped in 30 and looks amazing just not that strong.

Thanks a lot, this is what I wanted to know. So I'll keep doing the strength training exercises along with the cardio 2-3 times per week (cardio 2-3/week) Is it ok to do strength training for 15-20 minutes per day or more useful to have a rest day in between?

It is perfectly fine to do strength training for even longer than that if your body can handle it. I am usually working with weights and strength training 4 days a week from an hour to an hour and a half each time. If you feel you still have fat you want to burn off, then do keep in cardio at least 3 days a week. Some people will tell you don't do cardio at all, but any successful program will incorporate both strength training and cardio. Also, do you have a Heart Rate Monitor? If not it'd be good to invest in one. You can find reasonably priced ones at WalMart or on Amazon.com. Knowing your Target Heart rate is great for helping your body operate at maximum efficiency.

Jkn921

I did my let's say first as I never felt like this before from a workout - first strength training workout. Can feel the work done in my stomach even now, I'll stick with this and cardio.

Appreciate all the help.

/off I go

SLLRunner

Work your overall body and stay in consistent calorie deficit. Your body will dictate how body fat gets reduced and no manner of exercise can accelerate or change it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This.

lizj0nes21

Right now, I've got these things into place:
1) Keeping a food diary and am in a calorie deficit
2) Do high-intensity cardio atleast 4 times per week
3) Have started performing 'strength training/toning' workouts with light dumbbells
4) Eat clean

I've read a lot that lifting and strength training exercises are important but then on the other hand, hear you need to lose belly fat to see the muscles. I'm confused where to start with or shall I continue combining both together, that is cardio x4 per week and muscle/strength training exercises every single day for about 15-20 minutes? The reason I'm confused is do I reduce my belly fat first then start the strength training process or do it as I go along and if I do that - how much do I need to do?

To get a more accurate image of where I am, here's a pic of my stomach as it was yesterday. As you can see it needs a lot of work...

http://i43.tinypic.com/1grlau.jpg

People who have been in my position and have a similar shape (or larger) - how long roughly did it take and what did you do for it?

I've searched extensively for losing belly fat and getting the type of definition I'm after. I am planning to start heavy lifting when I go back home in Easter and over Summer so it's not off the tables.

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the long post

Thanks for posting this as I have the same problem

jardimgirl

bump